TRADITION

Community Colleges of Spokane runs deep in Caleb Olson’s family. Deeper than he even knew when he started at Spokane Falls Community College (SFCC) in 2015.

He knew his parents, Ryo and Dawn (Telecky) Olson, met at Spokane Community College (SCC) “sometime in the ‘80s.” It was 1987 to be exact. Dawn was a paralegal student and Ryo was studying biomedical equipment technology.

Dawn’s father, Bruce Telecky, went to Spokane Technical and Vocational School, graduating right before that school officially became SCC in 1963. In fact, in his last year, Bruce was student body president.

Caleb didn’t realize that detail when he saw a flyer for student government on his third day of class. But he was pulled to get involved and served as a senator his first year. For the 2016-17 school year, he’s SFCC’s Associated Student president

CHOICE

It was Caleb’s choice to attend SFCC. “I wasn’t ready to jump into the four-year experience,” explains Caleb. “I thought there would be more time to find myself at a community college.”

His parents’ experience might have influenced him. “I like the personal attention you get at a community college, and you can find out what you excel at,” says Ryo. “Even after I finished school, I had a lot of personal attention from my instructors. I really enjoyed that.” He met his first boss, a fellow alumni of the biomedical equipment technology program, when he came to SCC to recruit. Ryo spent 25 years in the field.

“Both of us had jobs right out of our programs,” says Dawn.

CHOICE

It was Caleb’s choice to attend SFCC. “I wasn’t ready to jump into the four-year experience,” explains Caleb. “I thought there would be more time to find myself at a community college.”

His parents’ experience might have influenced him. “I like the personal attention you get at a community college, and you can find out what you excel at,” says Ryo. “Even after I finished school, I had a lot of personal attention from my instructors. I really enjoyed that.” He met his first boss, a fellow alumni of the biomedical equipment technology program, when he came to SCC to recruit. Ryo spent 25 years in the field.

“Both of us had jobs right out of our programs,” says Dawn.

FUTURE

Caleb discovered his passion rather quickly at SFCC. He took his first accounting class and was hooked. He’s maintained a 4.0 grade point average and received a scholarship for accounting students from the CCS Foundation.

He knew most accounting firms don’t take first-year students as interns, but that didn’t stop him from contacting every firm in Spokane last summer. He will finish up his internship at a local firm in April. His dream is to work for one of the “Big Four” accounting firms as an auditor. But first, he has to continue his education.

He plans to transfer to Gonzaga University or University of Washington when he graduates in June. “Which ever offers the better financial aid package,” he says.